Kokino - Or, Red
by Raggazzed12
Summary: A collection of drabbles, themes, and short stories, all written for The Houses Competition Forum where I act as a stand-in for the teams. All different characters from the HPverse, all different pairings, and all different stories to be enjoyed.
1. Certainly

**A/N: I don't normally write drabbles, so it was unusual to have a word limit for me, but it was fun to toy around with this challenge.**

 **As you may have guessed, this was written as a drabble, and it was for The Houses Competition Round 4 - Are You Secure?**

 **House: Gryffindor**

 **Category: Drabble**

 **Prompt: Dean/Seamus [Couple]**

 **A little summary: It's just one of those days: Seamus can't find Dean anywhere.**

 **Word Count: 635**

"Babe?" He called through the house, peering around another corner. Dean was absent from the hallway, as well as from every room that he had checked on so far.

There were few places the man could hide from him in their tiny little flat; and Seamus wanted to make sure some horrible accident hadn't taken place while he was at work or anything. After the one time he had come home to find the other man passed out on the floor… there were no chances to be taken anymore.  
For a moment, the Irishman stood, trying not to burst into full-fledged panic. This was unusual, for sure, but he couldn't let it get to him. Sometimes they both needed time alone.

"In here." A soft voice responded - and Seamus nearly fainted from relief. Dean was seated in his studio, an empty canvas spread before him.

"What are you doing, Dean?" He asked quietly, staring at the scene before him.

Paints were situated all around the seat that held the tall dark man. Brushes were stuck in one particular spot on the floor yet none held any signs of recent use. There was no sign that anything had been done to _create_ as Dean was so fond of, despite the surrounding evidence that seemingly said otherwise. Something was bugging his boyfriend: something large and looming was on his mind.

Only three years later and they were still in need of therapy from people who could certainly not relate to their situation. Seamus had tried time and time again to explain to many that they simply could not understand how anyone who had gone through that year had felt because it was something one had to experience to fully comprehend. Even the scars that traced his and Dean's body were not alike to many other people's, since other people had usually gained them from burning their hands on stoves or having a small accident with a wild critter.

These thoughts that flew through his head were what led Seamus to decide to make sure that the situation could be handled between the two of them. Walking up to Dean, he placed a hand on his shoulder gently, staring at the blank canvas.

"Was it a tough day?" Seamus asked softly.

"Sort of." The other did not break his gaze from the blankness of the canvas in front of them. "Had some...daydreams."

"I'm sorry to have to leave you all day, I could've helped…"

Dean shook his head gently, "We need the money. You're fine."

"Then how come you're obviously not having a good day? It's not good when you're not okay, love." He broke his gaze to look at Dean, who, when sitting, was at the height to be able to kiss Seamus without either of them having to bend down or stretch up. Seamus reached around and pecked the man's lips gently.

"I'll…"

"We can always talk." He offered.

"Maybe later," Dean said, turning to look at him with a gentle smile on his face, "For now, I think we should… we could make dinner together."

"Sounds great, hon." Seamus kissed him again, and this time Dean responded. Before they could really get to moving towards the kitchen, Seamus found himself on the other's lap with his arms clasped around Dean's neck, and performing what was definitely not a gentle kiss to the man's lips.

When they'd come up for breath and sat for a few minutes, Dean ruffled his hair gently, and he looked up at the other.

"Let's get to that pasta, hm?"

"Certainly."

Grasping Dean's hand, Seamus pulled him into the kitchen with a smile overtaking his face. Things might not be perfect; but they were as close to the very concept of perfection as Seamus thought it could all ever get.


	2. Boredom

**A/N: So this didn't start out as Wolfstar fic...and then suddenly it was? (I'm not sure how this happened send help.)**

 **ALSO - I didn't have any time to edit this so … it's really quite a draft. Not my best. But I really just had no time to do it, so draft it is. *shrugs***

 **House: Gryffindor**

 **Category: Short Story**

 **Prompt: Grimmauld Place [Location/Setting]**

 **Word Count: 1,289**

 **Mini-Summary: Sirius Black is bored. And then, he's not.**

In the dusty attic-space of the ancient house sat a man contemplating just how bored he truly was.

Sirius was not unfamiliar with boredom: ever since the danger of You-Know-Who had returned, this house was the place he was confined to and there wasn't much to do in it. It was so old that every bit of what may have once been called "entertainment" had disappeared from plain sight. If he was telling the truth, this house had never had any form of entertainment that was appealing to him.

Giving a loud groan, he sunk farther down into the chair and rubbed his face. Someone was supposed to be stopping by today, wasn't that right?

As if his questions had been heard, a sudden stomping from down below caused Sirius to sit upright, attempting to run a hand through his incredibly messy black hair and then wait, listening. There didn't appear to be any danger in going to see who it was.

"Sirius?" The voice of the visitor called up.

Adrenaline began racing through his body as he heard the voice - it had been days since the last person had stopped in, everyone was so busy - and he stood up, beginning to make his way down the stairs as fast as he could, passing all of the house-elves heads with disgust and making the floors creak. Remus stood at the bottom of the stair with a small smile on his face.

"Half expected you to arrive with a tail." The tawny haired man chuckled.

"Well, I can't always be predictable, can I?" He grinned. "Come over here."

After embracing the other as if it had been longer than two months since they'd last talked, Sirius stepped back and observed the other carefully. There were the familiar scars in their right place. The eyes hadn't changed, haircolor was still the same tawny brown it had always been - excusing maybe a grey spot here and there. All that was really different was the way Lupin's face seemed to have gotten a little more tired looking.

"When was the last time you took a shower, Sirius? You look worse than I feel."

"Oh, you know how it gets," Sirius shrugged, still too delighted with the surprise appearance to care what he honestly looked like, "There's no one to keep me in line here, so I figured it's okay if I go a day or two without the normal routines. I do take showers whether or not you believe me on that."

"I try." Remus gave a soft sigh.

"Come on in, let's sit down and I'll pull up a cup of tea." He took Remus by the shoulders and led them into the kitchen, sitting the man down in a chair and moving over to the cabinets.

For a few moments, the only sound to be heard was the rattling he was making trying to get the ingredients and cups together to make tea. Perhaps Remus was thinking of the same thing he was.

It was unusual for them to be alone in a house together anymore. Sirius had at first had to restrain the urge to tackle the other when he'd come down the stairs, and possibly involve more. But with time had come the restraint they both needed when in the company of one another. It was tough as all hell - yet it was quite possibly for the best.

When he turned around, it was evident that Remus had been having similar thoughts. Sirius leaned up against the back of the counter making sure to have a grin on his face that told all.

"Think we still got it?" He was not referring to the tea.

"Sirius, I imagine that you've been waiting to say that for the past two months. Have you talked to literally anyone?"

"Letters. Mad-Eye's been in and out."

"Oh good. I've got one hyper puppy on my hands…" Remus said with another sigh. "Although, I'm not sure I'd like to imagine what this puppy has on his mind."

"Aw, come off it, Rem. We haven't had any alone time since the summer. Why can't we do anything? Just a little kiss…" He walked up to the other man and sat beside him on the edge of the table.

Remus looked as reluctant as he always did before they started actually being able to enjoy each other's company. There was the familiar guilty look on his face - Sirius wanted to wipe it off his face.

"Perhaps…" Before Remus could say anything more, Sirius leaned down and pecked his lips.

"For a moment, you looked like that was unexpected." He said, chuckling as he backed away a little.

Yet before Sirius could sit fully down again, the tawny-haired man pulled him in for a longer kiss. This time, it was more akin to what he'd been asking for.

"We can't continue it, not right now…" Remus' eyes spoke differently. There was want, but there was resistance.

"So I don't get any form of entertainment until tonight?"

"Siri, you… you know how things are," they were no longer close together so it was hard to tell how badly saying that hurt his favorite person in the whole world, "We already made this agreement. No matter how much we want to be back together, things are different. The rest of the Order doesn't have an inkling about it. Things are more dangerous than ever. I don't want to risk anything more than we're already doing."

A silence fell onto them. Remus was not wrong. Sirius knew that. The agreement of such things were so hard to complete when one was so bored all of the time. The others all had lives outside of this musty old house he was forced to reside in.

With messy footsteps, he walked back over to the hissing kettle and set out the tea cups and the tea bags without a glance back at Remus. There was a sigh from the table; Sirius ignored it. It was stupid to get sentimental over this sort of thing, he knew it. But what could he do? The world wasn't exactly fair to him, it never had been, so getting angry was perfectly allowed.

"I know how you feel, Sirius...I don't deny that I haven't felt the same way about it. I simply don't want to live in regret, or you to live in regret, or really… if anything were to happen, I don't want things to be worse than they already are." Remus was speaking softly, his tone gentle. "But… perhaps we can break that a little today."

"You're risking it? Even after blatantly telling me that it was all awful and our relationship could never be rekindled and that perhaps we should just stop all of correspondence, even? I've been trapped in this house for months. I fail to see how that sort of thing is going to be passed by."

"I know, I'm indecisive. But we have to risk it a little, don't we?"

Despite the misgivings he knew they both were feeling, Sirius couldn't help the elated feeling he got from those words. They could risk it, Remus needed to be comfortable, but he would make sure of that. He'd always made sure of that.

"Then let's get to it after tea, shall we?" He felt a small smile grow on his unshaven face as he turned to look at Remus, holding the cups.

The house no longer seemed so dark and so boring when Remus was there to entertain him. Whatever time they may have had left was going to be used both wisely and foolishly.

Sirius Black was ready to let go of all possible regret and fears that night.


	3. Full Disclosure

**A/N: I really enjoy writing Bellatrix, so the minute I saw she was a prompt, I took it because perhaps I too am a crazy lady who just wants to be admired for her actions.**

 **House: Gryffindor**

 **Category: Theme: Security – the loss of, the finding of the need for, how we act when security is shattered**

 **Prompt: Bellatrix LeStrange [Character]**

 **Word Count: 1,610**

 **Mini-Summary: Bella ends up at her wit's end.**

If it weren't for the despairing, annoying characteristics of the rest of the people she was apparently "related to", Bellatrix Black may have - at one point - gotten along with some of them.

But, as it stood there was little chance of such a prospect. It had all begun when she was a child with her cousins, of course. The older ones were always such cruel beings. They'd played as many pranks on her as they possibly could, with their little snivelling faces all scrunched up in pleasure as she screamed at them for being so impossible.

As soon as she was old enough to torment _her_ younger cousins, she'd made sure they were to never forget her existence. Sirius and Regulus were such disappointments anyways.

It hadn't gotten any better for her regardless, for as soon as she was a teenager, it was the married cousins and aunts and uncles who had started to comment on her. 18 years old and she was still struggling to deal with their stupid compliments on "Oh, she's perfect! However did you raise her?" and "I want my child to be like Bella…" and so forth. The compliments were infuriating! How on earth could they say such things? She would show them. She would show them that their minds and words hurt more than anything.

That was how it came to be that she was in her current situation. It was the holidays - so every person who was still a part of the family was suddenly seated in the house of her cousins, Grimmauld Place - and everyone was talking fast and loud and with regal tones as if it were some sort of formal ball.

"As if this place could ever handle a ballroom…" Bellatrix sniffed as she walked down the stairs, saying aloud to nobody. "I'd like to see the day it caves in on these people."

Such a wish was her newest plan of death to these bastards. They didn't deserve her thanks, she didn't want theirs. Sadly, she'd realized collapsing this house in particular would take a little more effort than just her singular person no matter how "great" she was, so she had settled on something far more mundane in her eyes. Oh, they _would_ pay.

"Welcome, Bellatrix!" Someone called from the mass of people in the hall. She only curtly nodded to them, brushing back a long wave of black hair and proceeding to push through the rest of them to get into the kitchen.

Narcissa stood in the doorway, "Bella? Where have you been?"  
"I thought I might try and… assist the younger children in dressing. I was dismissed, of course." Rolling her eyes, Bellatrix sighed and leaned against the other side of the doorway. "Needless to say, I was threatened by a bunch of ten year olds."

"You? You could blow them to the next level of this building if you wanted to. I don't see why you bother with them. They don't want your help."

"Well, sometimes people need assistance in life." She looked around. "Where's Meda gone?"

"Flouncing off to visit people, no doubt." Narcissa shrugged.

Andromeda was another annoyance Bellatrix could certainly live without. The stupid girl was too bouncy for her own good - and she was another one who many people said should look up to her eldest sister, since apparently Bellatrix was the role model for all young Blacks. It made her grit her teeth to think of such things.

"Well then, let her be disappointed when not a single person wants to speak to her." She shrugged as well, letting her anger go for the moment. Even if her mind was bent on the revenge she needed to make sure these people knew that she was angry, she couldn't help but be pleased by the smells emitting from the room she stood in.

Food was the only saving grace of the entire Black family. Cooks were such useful things, and with House-elves being the main servants for everything in this house, it was quite pleasing to smell what they could cook up. Bellatrix would never argue against food cooked by House-elves; she never said no to the food at Hogwarts, and the food was the one redeeming thing about the place in her mind.

%

After all were settled down, and every single person that could _possibly_ be related had entered their home, there was finally some time to be talked to like she was the prize possession of a farmer. Or, at least, that was how her family saw it.

Mother dearest was seated in the armchair, smiling at all that passed her. Bellatrix clicked her teeth together at the very sight.

"She's doing wonderfully, of course - Bella, dear, come closer," her mother motioned, that grin on her face doing her appearance no favors, "Always the role model for all of the rest of the girls in her class."

"Mother." The dark haired girl glared at the woman who showed no astonishment at such actions. It was part of what apparently what made Bellatrix "the perfect Black".

"Like I was saying, she's quite fantastic at certain aspects of potion making. And she's so good with Spells. It's almost as if she were more born from her father's side than having any of my genes." Her mother laughed in a stupidly dainty way.

Some uncle came up next to inquire of her mother's health, and then spoke to Bellatrix like she was a pet - still not ever assumed wrong by these people - and continued speaking to her mother who spoke of her like the pet he saw her as. The conversation grew to the point where there was now a fair group of the dolting adults standing around her mother and her.

This was the moment she'd been waiting for: the chance to speak out against what they did to her on a daily basis. Bellatrix Black was not having any of this any longer. She'd lived through it since she'd started school 7 years ago, and it was time for it all to end.

"A-hem," She called all of their attention with a loud throat clearing, placing a hand on her mother's shoulder and standing as tall as she could. "That's more like it. Now, could you please explain to me why this is a particular enjoyment of yours at such gatherings? I can't imagine it's for any other reason than to gawk at me. I would understand it more if you were crude bachelors or distressed dames, but seeing as most of you are married and some of you even have gone as far as to have children - which I will certainly never understand they're such horrible things - I don't see what sort of enjoyment you get out of this."

"Respect your mother's decisions, child." Said one aunt, but Bellatrix shot her a look.

"You do not understand what I'm trying to say? Let me make it clear." She stood a bit straighter. "I am sick of being treated as the best, and the one person anyone wants to be. While I can say perhaps it is what has given me such confidence as to speak like this to any of you, I will tell you all that I find it incredibly disrespectful. I have been dealing with this for seven years now, and none of you seem to understand how much it pains me to hate family gatherings. But I am done. I will take advantage of my chances of freedom from your horrible accusations. I have been trapped here for ages, stuck with your awful words and I know nothing will change your opinions, no matter what I do."

By now, she had created quite the scene. The entire room was watching with tense silence, eyes watching her from all directions. This was how Bellatrix wanted it. This was perfect, and she could taste the sweetness of the revenge she was getting on her lips.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll leave this wretched place at once, if I may," she looked to her mother, who gave a weak nod as if she was caught by surprise but had no problem with it, "And I will never go to another one of these things again. I hope you all see this as some sort of "role model" move, I'll love hearing about the stories spread from this one in the future. Am I still your perfect child who represents the Blacks? Think about it."

With a glare, Bellatrix rushed out of the room. Someone called after her - Narcissa could talk to her about it later, she didn't want to see her sister now. She was leaving.

When she exited the building, she stood outside for a long moment before moving again.

The fresh air was welcoming to her lungs. Bellatrix gave out a long sigh, and then started to recall the faces of the relatives in that room. Oh, how shocked they'd all looked! She cackled slightly, letting the small snickers grow into a full blown laugh.

Bellatrix Black was free of that torture for now. For years she'd despised the way they'd made her felt uncomfortable and no longer safe, and now she'd turned it right on them and they were the ones getting that treatment. Making people feel unsafe was quite a delightful feeling.

She left the property that day with her first triumph. Bellatrix would in fact never be seen at another family gathering; but they still would gossip about how she was the best out of all of them every time one happened in every future party - and she couldn't have cared any less.


	4. Camping Trip

**A/N: Hello again! I come back with a little drabble. I suppose this sort of contains a ship, I personally have found this ship enjoyable in the past even if I don't actually ship it all that hard, it's quite cute in my opinion. So yes, you could say they are together.**

 **This was written for Round 5 of the Houses Competition, I acted as a reserve again.**

 **House: Gryffindor**

 **Category: Drabble**

 **Prompt: Camping [Activity]**

 **Word Count: 645**

 **Mini Summary: Luna understands completely why Ginny doesn't fully enjoy camping.**

"Come on! I've found the perfect spot!" The blonde haired girl called, making sure she was waving with extra force so she could be seen. After all, there were plenty of trees in between them both by this point.

Luna was referring to this perfect open space amongst the forest that she had just found while trying to decipher if this was actually going to work or not. She was rather fond of the word "decipher"...

Putting that thought out of her mind, Luna glanced around again while Ginny came up to her. It seemed that the trees around them were fully in bloom and quite healthy, which was comforting. Seeing harmed or dead trees was always such a sad sight. The clearing was very green and so full of good grasses that it felt magical in it's own little way.

"Is this it, Luna?" Ginny leaned against her shoulder as she too admired the view. "It's quite a nice patch."

"Yes."

She moved over to kneel down by the ground, and putting her head against it, nodded again. "There's nothing horrible coming. We're safe."

The redhead standing over her chuckled and pulled her back to standing. Soon enough, they were setting up their tent. Luna went to cast a few safety spells around the area even if the concept seemed a little out of whack. Why would they need safety spells if there weren't people out there looking for them? This wasn't still taking place four years ago where that would have been a reality - but it comforted her. She didn't quite have the words to describe _why_ it comforted her, but it did.

Ginny would never ask such questions anyways. This was a trip for them. The two of them were supposed to be enjoying their time alone and away from the rest of the world.

%

Later that evening, Luna found herself sitting against the back of the tent, staring into the sky as the sun set. She found a sort of peace within herself at the prospect of getting to be this way for a few days. It was so out of character for Ginny to want to leave the comforts of home that she knew she had to make it good for the other girl. While neither of them had been huge on camping in childhood, Luna took a certain comfort with the outdoor world that Ginny didn't have.

"Luna?" Ginny came and sat down beside her having appeared suddenly out of the blue.

"Yes?"

"Nothing. Just...making sure you were still awake." There was a soft shrug added at the end of the sentence. "What are we going to do for three days?"

"I have all of these wonderful things planned and yet you sit here still doubting me."

"I want to make sure you are certain on your choices. I mean, this is the outside world, Luna, it does do unexpected things."

"Why are you so scared?" She turned to look at the other. "What got into your head that has made you like this? We're going to be fine, Ginny."

There was a tense silence and Ginny gave a sigh. She clearly wasn't sure herself what was wrong. Luna wanted to know so she could make it better and not have this be an awful trip.

"I've been scared of camping ever since… ever since… ever since I didn't think my own brother would come home from that... It was so long ago, Luna, yet I can't get the fear out of my head that this is how it's going to be for anyone who goes away. That they'll simply be taken away."

Since Luna had already suspected such a fear, all she could do was sigh a little and wrap an arm around Ginny.

"I'll make this okay. I'll make it better. I promise."

And she did.


	5. Ritual

**A/N: I never write enough of Fred and George, I don't know why I don't write more of them - I've decided I'm going to write more of them in the future. In the meantime, here's a short little story that's about them. And of course, it's a bit sad.**

 **Written for Round 5 of the Houses Competition.**

 **House: Gryffindor**

 **Category: Short Story**

 **Prompts: Unbreakable Vow [Spell/Promise]**

 **Word Count: 1,170**

 **Mini-Summary: Asking the "what if" question of: if Fred and George had made an Unbreakable Vow to never spill the secrets to their creations, and George is forced into a situation where he needs to let these secrets out.**

 _Summer, 1997_

"George?" His twin poked his head around the corner of the doorway.

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking about what we discussed a few nights ago, about the Unbreakable Vow stuff…" Fred came in and plopped himself down onto the chair adjacent to George's. The mood was suddenly serious. "I think we should do it."

"You think?" He asked, watching Fred carefully.

"I think."

"You never think, Freddie," George chuckled and then sighed, "Well, if you think it's the best route to take, I guess we should."

"What terms do you want to go by?" The other leaned over the table slightly, already holding out his arm.

"Well, I think it should be simple. We shan't make it too complicated, or we'll have regrets about it later. I mean, you know you can't fully trust me with secrets." He winked.

Fred laughed. "Alright, well, if that's the case, then we should probably say: the secrets of our franchise will never be revealed to anyone else. It can be that simple."

"Sounds good to me, mate." George pulled out his wand as he nodded. "Do you think we can do this with just two of us in the room?"

For a moment they sat there in a bit of confused bewilderment. The room didn't have anything special about it, it was simply the back storage and lounge room of the shop. George hadn't seen anything that could even help with the process which required someone else to be holding the wand.

"Here." Fred pulled out a holder-thingy from his back pocket - George never asked where he could find things like that.

"Better trust me on this, brother." George grinned.

They gripped hands tightly and began the ritual.

%

 _Summer, 2010_

"Dad?" The soft voice of his son caused him to turn around and grin at the boy, who stood in front of him.

"Hey there, Freddie. What are you up to?" He had been sorting shelves in the storage room closet for the past half hour, but he hadn't been paying any attention to where his 10 year old son actually was.

"I was wondering …" Fred didn't continue his sentence, which prompted George to bend down to his height and look at him.

"Yeah?"

"Well, will I ever get to … to run your shop with you?"

"Goodness, nearly gave me a fright there, Freddie. I thought you were going to ask if you could take a trip to Mars or something." George chuckled, and gripped his son's shoulder. "Sure, when you're old enough I'll make sure you know exactly how this place works."

"So you'll teach me _all_ of the things about everything in here?" He giggled.

George grew silent. He recalled a time, years ago, when a promise, a vow, had been made in the very room that was beside them, where he had made sure he wouldn't ever reveal the secrets of the store to anyone. They'd thought they were so invincible back then.

"Dad?"

"Sorry, chum, just … drifted off. Of course I will." He said, with a rather forced smile.

"Yay!" Fred bounced away, skipping with delight. "I'm going to go find mum and tell her I'm going to work with daddy in the future!"

"Go right ahead, Freddie." George spoke to softly for the little boy who had vanished from sight to hear, but he wasn't sure who he was talking to in that moment: his past, or his future.

%

 _Summer, 2015_

The clang of the bell on the door informed George that the summer crowd had just begun. It was only June, which meant the truly busy season was only just beginning. He shouted a hello to them from the counter, and then turned back to the boy standing beside him.

"Hey, dad, what can I do with this?" The 15 year old was holding a box.

"Um… put it over in the sweets section. It's a new shipment of something I'm trying out." He said, nodding to the box as his hands fiddled with the money he had sitting in it's pot, preparing for a day of exchanging Galleons and Knuts and Sickles.

As soon as George had sorted that out, he turned to find Fred seated on a chair beside him.

"What's the question this time, Fred?" He was familiar with the look on the boy's face. Quite familiar.

"I was wondering… would you be willing to teach me about the way everything works, now? I'm older and I'm working here: would it be okay if I knew about it all?" Fred asked with nerves shaking his voice.

"Well…" George sighed a little. He knew that the Unbreakable Vow he'd made all those years ago with his own brother had stood for only a short time, but … did it still stand?  
He'd always wondered what happened to the Vow after one person died. The best assumption that could be made was that the Vow broke, or disappeared, no longer standing for anything. There was no one else who knew about it anymore. It seemed likely that he could break it without any consequences; and this was Fred's namesake. The kid was a good bit like his Uncle, and George knew that if there was anything his twin would have wanted was a legacy to be continued in close familial relations.

So without another spot of hesitation, he looked back at Fred and gave a nod.

"I think it wouldn't hurt. But I'm going to, well, I'm going to ask something of you that is going to take a lot of courage for you to come to terms with, Freddie boy. I'm going to require that we make an Unbreakable Vow on this."

"An - oh… did you already make one? With… With Uncle Fred?" For a 15 year old, he had some remarkable insight.

"Yes." He nodded. "But we were younger, we thought it would hold forever, I do think."

"Well I don't want to harm you…"

"I do believe that you won't, Fred. That Vow has been broken for something around 18 years now. Tell you what, we'll sort it out later this evening."

Fred seemed content with that answer. The rest of the day passed quite quickly, or so it seemed to George, and soon enough he was seated in the same chair as he had been 18 years ago, staring across at another Fred.

"The simple terms I would like you to go by," he grunted as he picked up a similar holder as his brother had used, "Are that the secrets of our franchise will never be revealed to anyone else. Now, you will someday be able to pass all that information off to your own children, but not until … well, not until you know the Vow no longer stands. I'm sure you'll know when that is."

"Yeah." Fred nodded, he seemed to be nervous. Understandable.

"Give me your hand." George reached across the table, and they gripped hands.

They gripped hands, and George began the ritual.


	6. Having Courage

**A/N: I intended for this to come out this past Friday, but I didn't manage to get around to it (sadly). But here it is, only two days late!  
Written for The Houses Competition, Round 5. **

**House: Gryffindor**

 **Category:Theme: Discovery – what does it take to discover new places, self-discovery, inner meaning, strength, even treasure.**

 **Prompt: "You will stay here until I give you permission to leave," [Speech]**

 **Word Count: 2,091**

The calls of all the other children reached his sensitive ears. Remus attempted to hide further behind his mother's body at the sudden sense of fear he got from hearing all of these voices in such a large space. They had just made it onto the train platform, and already he was feeling quite overwhelmed.

"Come along, dear." Hope Lupin pulled on her nervous son's shirt. He knew he was visibly shaking. "You have to be brave. I know it's a lot to hear at once, but I promise you're going to be okay."

"Mum, why … why is it so piercing?" He looked around with wide eyes at the scene before him. All around them, what would soon be his fellow students were calling out to each other or to their parents.

"They're all very excited, Remus, and you should be as well. This is a great opportunity."

Remus knew his mother had never been to this station before either, and it had been made obvious when she'd had to ask someone else where the platform was to be found. His father had been unable to come, so they'd been left to fend for themselves. Now that they were here, he could tell she was a little hesitant to leave him there.

But he wanted to be on his own nearly as much as he was scared. This was a chance to get away from home!

"Alright...well, how do I get on?" Before she could answer him, someone tried to push between them.

"Oh, sorry ma'am." This shockingly red-headed girl - who looked to be his age - looked back at them, smiling nervously. "I was just trying to get past, I didn't realize you were there."

"It's alright." Remus replied before his mother, watching the girl carefully.

"Well, thanks then." She went over to the stairs and climbed aboard the train without another thought. He noticed she had first handed her trunk over to one of the people in uniform near the train.

"I think I can get on, mum."

"If you're certain...then goodbye, Rem. Take care, please. Remember to write home once a month, and tell us all about it! I know your father will be very happy to get news." She smiled as she attempted to straighten his collar a little, bending down to reach.

All he could do was respond by leaning in and giving her a hug. "I promise, mum." He whispered into her ear.

As Remus Lupin boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time, he looked back at his mother who was waving and smiling. She was hiding her fear for him that was quite evident. It was alright. It was going to be alright.

With cautious steps, he climbed into the main corridor of the train. Most people were already in seats and as he passed each room he noticed how full they were. These kids had _friends_. Actual friends - not just people who didn't want to interact with you anywhere else but the public place you'd been introduced at, like the park. With a swallow, Remus continued walking, ignoring the looks of anyone else.

That wasn't the way to make friends...how did one talk to other kids?

Such a question remained unanswered, and would for a little while longer for him. Lupin made sure the cabin he entered was empty, and sat down with a small sigh. Okay, he was a little early. But it was fine, no one really cared.

Looking out onto the station, he saw the groups of people still coming in and the kids who were still saying farewell to their parents. Some joined others - and boy, did he feel lonely.

No one would ever want to be his friend, that was something he was certain of. It was useless trying to talk to anyone, as he was horrible at interacting with other people and it certainly would make a bad impression if he tried to do so on his first day -

A loud clang made him jump nearly two feet in the air as someone opened the door to the cabin with urgency.

"JUST YOU - oh, sorry for barging in on you, mate." The boy seemed to be being chased by someone, as he had attempted to call out the door before he saw Remus. "I'll just be going, then. Getting chased by siblings, you see."

And just like that, he was gone. Remus hadn't even been able to ask his name. The boy had had this plain brown hair, placed in a rather boring hair-style. Even his face wasn't exactly memorable. All that Remus could do after such an encounter was settle back down into his seat and stare out the window.

The train began moving before long, blowing it's long whistle and chugging out of the station. Off they went.

For a few minutes, it was fun to watch things go past on a train. He'd never really been on one before, so the whole experience was brand new to him.

It was a while before anyone else bothered to run into his cabin.

A loud knock at the door caused him to jump yet again - he cursed his hypersensitive ears - and he looked up to see two boys he'd never seen before staring in at him.

One was rather tall, with messy black hair and dark eyes, glasses surrounding them, and he had this look on his face that told Remus this was someone who was into mischief. The boy beside him was slightly shorter, with less of a striking appearance. He looked rather like a mouse, and his figure certainly told of one.

"Sorry to intrude, but have you seen any, er, suspicious animals flying around this here cabin?" The dark-haired one poked his head in, smiling almost nonchalantly.

"No." He shook his head.

"Great. Sorry Peter, I don't think we're going to find her." He said to the boy beside him, and then looked up and nodded at Remus. "Thanks anyways."

Peter and the unnamed boy wandered away slowly after that, as Remus didn't try and ask what they were up to. He didn't really want to get involved in anything that could prove to be a huge prank or trouble of some sort. It was sort of amazing he had even been allowed into Hogwarts; he was _not_ going to ruin that chance by getting in trouble on the train.

That sort of decision was luckily held all the way through the train ride. Remus rode the whole way to Hogwarts completely alone, and he rather hated it and liked it at the same time.

%

The glowing magnificence of the school itself was shocking to every student who sat in the boats and stared up at it. Remus had never imagined something so ridiculous yet so amazing at the same time. The large man who had guided them into the boats was talking, but no one heard his words. For a moment, Remus almost felt like he was a part of something.

Even though they could have all sat there gaping in awe for hours, the boats were still steadily moving towards the castle, and soon enough they found themselves getting out. Remus felt his moment of near-acceptance broken by the announcement that they were to be led into the castle.

As soon as they were inside and gathered in a hallway, Hagrid - for that was the large man's name - turned to them with a smile and informed them that he was going to be off. When he left, a tall woman with a stern face came out.

"You will stay here until I give you permission to leave," She said haughtily, but kindly, "Once I tell you to come with me, you will go to be Sorted."

Whispers ran through the group as she finished speaking. The Sorting was somewhat of a mystery to most students, apparently. Remus had to scoff at them internally, for hadn't they read anything? The Sorting was simply the tradition that determined what House you were going into, and it wasn't scary or threatening at all. It wasn't even a test of any type.

Yet by the time the teacher returned - who had informed them her name was Professor McGonagall - everyone else had worked up a sweat while Remus Lupin had remained quite calm. They entered the Great Hall, and it began.

The first few people were sorted without any reaction from the older students in the Hall except for cheers from their tables that they were going to join. It was only when a boy Remus hadn't seen before was suddenly sorted into "Gryffindor!" that the whole Hall fell silent for almost a minute.

The black haired boy's name was Sirius Black, and as far as Remus could tell, didn't seem special compared to any of the other students. But the rest of the Hall apparently considered this to be a huge shock, and they were all suddenly silent.

Then, Gryffindors started to cheer as the shell-shocked Sirius Black made his way to the table, seemingly numb. Remus couldn't imagine what was so bad about it that made the boy so scared looking, but he supposed he shouldn't ask.

Some more people filtered by, and then it was suddenly his turn.

Remus felt quite silly with the large black hat going over his head, but he sat there patiently, thinking about the fact that there was a whole massive Hall of people watching him.

"Gryffindor!" The hat called, and the table cheered, and suddenly he was seated beside Sirius Black and a girl - the girl whom he'd been pushed by at the station - named Lily Evans.

Both boys whom he'd seen on the train, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter, as the dark haired boy's name turned out to be, were also sorted into Gryffindor. They were two of the last ones to be called up, and the feast began soon enough after the mandatory rituals of tradition.

Remus ate in silence. He'd found it was easier to simply listen to these people rather than to try and communicate with them. It appeared Sirius was still in some amount of shock, but both James and Peter were trying to comfort them from their seats directly across the table.

"Don't worry man, you're going to be fine!" James grinned as he bit into a chicken leg.

"You're not the one with the mother who's going to punish you for being in this House." Sirius said. He appeared to be reluctant to eat.

"No one's going to harm you, Sirius. You'll be fine, you're in bloody Gryffindor, after all!" James spread his arms wide as he spoke. Remus raised an eyebrow at his actions; and was actually noticed by the boy. "Hey, you're that kid that was alone in the cabin! My name's James Potter. Yours?"

Clearly James had the attention span of a duck, but Remus wasn't going to tell him that right then. He was a little slow to answer, as suddenly nerves shot up. He was actually being spoken to. Now he needed to have the courage to reply.

"R-Remus, Remus Lupin." He shook the hand that was offered.

"Nice to meet you. This is Peter Pettigrew, that's Sirius Black." James smiled. "You're so quiet, I almost didn't realize you were here."

"Well, I ... it's just a lot." Remus struggled to find an answer to that. He didn't want to be the one who was wrong in what he said.

"Agreed." The glum boy beside him agreed.

"Oh, come off it, Sirius. It's going to be fine. As for you," James said, turning to him again, "Do you have any friends?"

"Not really. Sort of… lived in the country."

"Well good news. I think I'd be glad to have another friend."

He couldn't speak after that. James was distracted by something else after that. But Remus was still stuck on the fact that he had suddenly just made a friend. What's more, he had actually been able to talk to other people.

For once in his rather short life, Remus felt a surge of acceptance and courage. He could do this. He would survive in this life, and Hogwarts was going to be a change.

In the next minute Remus did something that he never normally would have done before realizing this was all loads easier than he'd thought. He inquired about someone's personal life.

"So, why're you so upset about being sorted into Gryffindor?" Remus turned to look curiously at Sirius.


End file.
